Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compact device for lifting a load, also called lifting machine.
Description of Related Art
Such a lifting device includes a chassis, typically mounted on wheels, a turret connected to the chassis so as to rotate around a vertical axis, and a lifting arm, extending between a first end connected to said turret, and a second end supporting means for carrying the load, for example a platform. This lifting device allows both the lifting and rotation of the carrying means around the vertical axis.
The lifting device is described as “compact” when its chassis has a height, considered in the direction of the vertical axis, a wheelbase, i.e., the distance between its axles, and a track width, i.e., the distance between the wheels of a same axle, that are all relatively small. More particularly, the lifting device is described as compact when the height of the chassis is smaller than 0.7 m, the wheelbase is smaller than 1.7 m and the track width is smaller than 1.2 m.
Such a compact lifting device is typically used on a trailer to be transported from one usage site to another. However, this lifting device has a limited crossing capacity, not making it possible to mount such a trailer alone, the access ramp of which is not suitable and is too steep. It is then generally necessary to arrange the compact lifting device in the trailer using a larger, outside lifting vehicle. More particularly, such an outside lifting vehicle typically includes lifting forks, which are inserted below the chassis of the lifting device to lift the latter for transport thereof. The outside lifting vehicle can even be used in case of breakdown of the compact lifting device, for example to bring it close to a power recharging point.
However, the balance of such a lifting device is not optimized for such transport on forks, such that there are risks of this lifting device falling during transport.